GREAT Horton Church Cricket Club are flying high after a period of success, with fantastic trips at home and abroad coming alongside that too.

After their junior sides swept away the opposition in 2018, the club were handed the young club/team of the year prize at the 2019 Bradford Sports Awards.

The talented team did not stop there. Among other achievements this season, the Under-13s won the Bradford Junior Cricket League.

Two of that side, Hashmat Ahmed and Amar Azeem, were at Valley Parade for the launch of the 2020 Bradford Sports Awards, and they spoke to the T&A about their achievements and the opportunities on offer at the club.

Hashmat said: "It's very exciting to play here. The club's always getting involved in different activities and it's not just cricket, it's social stuff.

"You get to meet people you never thought you'd meet and go to places you never though you'd go.

"We went to Malaysia last year and that was brilliant. We had a great time out on the cricket pitch, we met some wonderful people there and it was a good experience overall."

It was particular exciting for a wide-eyed Amar, who said: "In Malaysia it was obviously warmer, but the experience was so different.

"I never knew I was going to get to go there. If I'd never joined the cricket club, I wouldn't have gone.

"We went to Headingley one time too and saw Shoaib Akhtar, the (Pakistani) fast bowler. I don't think I can bowl as fast as him though, he's too fast."

Durham county cricketer Usman Arshad used to play for Great Horton, and asked about following in his footsteps, Hashmat said: "That would be very exciting. The club are really involved in different activities and the path the guys here open up for you is very good.

"If we carry on the way we are, with the club's coaching, the facilities and the way they teach us, there's many opportunities for us in the future."

Finally, asked why he loves cricket, Amar said: "It's interesting. In football sometimes you're on the bench but in cricket you're always doing something."